Features

Introduction

The global spread of political Islam - or, Islamism - is a complex, nuanced, and fluid phenomenon with critical implications for the durability of international human rights architectures premised on universal norms; for state sovereignty; and for peace, order, and the rule of law. There is ample evidence to suggest the detrimental effects for democracy, economic justice, and security caused by ideas and actors operating under the rubric of Islamism, shorthanded to mean the global spread of sharia law. The Global Political Islam section will provide timely information, updates, and analysis around four focus areas associated with the globalization of Islamism.

Global Political Islam

September 25, 2017

The ongoing military decline of the Islamic State (IS) in Iraq and Syria is creating a paradoxical new threat to Mideast stability, as the degradation of the Sunni caliphate has removed a significant impediment to the project of global Shiite radical imperialism supported by the Islamic Republic of Iran.

September 25, 2017

Islamic State (IS) operatives are targeting students in Ireland's university system to dupe them into establishing bank accounts that can be used for money laundering and false documentation to support Islamist terrorism.

September 25, 2017

The Islamic State (IS) has developed a lethal drone fleet with both surveillance and attack capabilities, amounting to an emerging, resilient threat to Western and global stability that may threaten critical infrastructure inside the United States.

September 25, 2017

The Saudi Arabia-headquartered Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the UN Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN-Women) have signed a memorandum of understanding for inter-institutional cooperation, despite many known violations of gender equality in some OIC countries.

September 25, 2017

International humanitarian agencies are condemning the Saudi-Iran battle for Sunni-versus-Shiite Islamist dominance in the Middle East for producing "the world's worst humanitarian crisis," with some aid groups particularly criticizing Saudi Arabia’s blockade of emergency food.